East West Quantum Leap RA is a library regrouping ethnic instruments of the whole world: America, Africa, Middle East, Asia and Europe. Every continent offers a consequent number of percussions, instruments with wind, with strings... All well-known ethnic instruments are present:
taikos,
erhu,
shakuhachi, flute of section, bagpipes,
duduk,
bansuri...
The library is composed of group of articulations for every instrument as well as of a
keyswitch (
legato, staccato,
slide melodies,
pick,). For some instruments (
erhu for example), it's a pity not to have more articulations when they know the difficulty in bringing realism to a soloist (even more in strings). In practice, the library remains simple to use with interface Play. Main job will consist in giving life to every instrument. The material of the textbook and a more deepened research will allow to know better the specificity of every instrument (registers, timbres, way of playing).
Concerning sound quality, she remains correct. East West Quantum Leap RA is a library which was recorded before products such as East West Quantum Leap Symphonic Orchestra and
Choirs. She sometimes misses a little of depth, force... However the passage with the engine Play (and notably its convolution reverb) gives again to him a second breath. It will not be rare to add reverberation and stereo control to reproduce a richer environment than the one in which the instrument was recorded. This will generally allow to bring more thickness and presence in instruments. To note that an adjustment allows to choose the tonality of the instrument.
The main pitfall to be avoided with such library is excessive use or even clumsy of instruments. An ethnic instrument is rather rare by definition. It is not therefore desirable to use a panoply in a composition at the risk of producing the inverse effect of realism. It is also sometimes difficult to take out of stereotypes such as
Duduk to
Gladiator, Irish flute in James Horner...
To conclude, East West Quantum Leap RA gives a not negligible range of instruments which will surely allow to bring a local colour in a composition. It will be however necessary to play with some adjustments of
Play to get a richer sound. Definite knowledge of instruments and some imagination will allow to use the library in a clever way.
UDUN
